Decoder / Filter Graph trouble

[grahamm]

Hey all,

I just re-formatted and installed xp on my new HD. I installed gbpvr and the nvidia purevideo decoder. At the moment I have the nvidia decoder and the one that came with the hauppauge 150 card. I selected the nvidia from the list in config and fired up gbpvr. It used the nvidia decoder and displayed the icon in the taskbar.

The next day I started gbpvr again and this time I noticed the picture was quite different so I looked at the taskbar and there was no icon. I went to config and selected default. then I put the merit for nvidia to the highest and checked to make sure the other one was down. It was.

When I check the graph, it say's it is using: Hauppauge WinTV Color Format Converter 2.

The graoh from the log shows:
20:00:46.218 VERBOSE Graph contains the following filters:
20:00:46.218 VERBOSE - Default DirectSound Device
20:00:46.218 VERBOSE - Video Renderer
20:00:46.218 VERBOSE - ffdshow Audio Decoder
20:00:46.218 VERBOSE - GPL MPEG-1/2 Decoder
20:00:46.218 VERBOSE - GB-PVR Parser
20:00:46.218 VERBOSE - SOURCE

any ideas as to what went wrong here? I've re-registered the nvidia decoder and re-installed as well. The nvidia entry is listed in gbpvr config as well.

Thanks for the help,

- Graham

[sub]

The merit stuff doesnt always work the way you expect. If you want to use the nvidia purevideo decoder, you should select it in the config app and not rely on the system default stuff.

There are situations where the nvidia decoder will be used, but not show its icon in the taskbar. You can double check it is being used by looking in the gbpvr.exe-native.log (as you have above).

[sub]

When I check the graph, it say's it is using: Hauppauge WinTV Color Format Converter 2.

Thats used when you're doing live tv, but have the deinterlacing set to 'none'. You should have the deinterlacing set to 'encoder pass through' to ensure it uses the nvidia decoder.

[grahamm]

oh alright that makes sense, but how can I change the nvidia decoder properties now if I dont have the icon? I've set the vid decoder to nvidia and the graph shows its working but I cant change the settings. I know i can change the generic setting by going to the filter properties. but if its running there are additional de-interlacing options I would like to be able to use that so far I can only get to when I see the icon.

and also If i have the de-interlacing option on config to "none" then the video from my cable box to the comp and back to the tv is practically instant, but if it is encoder pass through its much slower, is there any way to speed this up? cause the pre-play delay doesnt seem to be changing much

[sub]

oh alright that makes sense, but how can I change the nvidia decoder properties now if I dont have the icon? I've set the vid decoder to nvidia and the graph shows its working but I cant change the settings. I know i can change the generic setting by going to the filter properties. but if its running there are additional de-interlacing options I would like to be able to use that so far I can only get to when I see the icon.

I dont know. You can always try asking nvidia about this. Its not GB-PVR hiding their icon - thats just the way their decoder works. Beats me why they do it this way.

and also If i have the de-interlacing option on config to "none" then the video from my cable box to the comp and back to the tv is practically instant, but if it is encoder pass through its much slower, is there any way to speed this up? cause the pre-play delay doesnt seem to be changing much

You're welcome to use the 'none' setting if you want. Its quicker but output wont pass through the MPEG2 encoder/decoder, so you cant use the nvidia decoder with it. Encoder pass through adds about 0.5 of a second, which is a very small delay compared to most PVR apps.

The pre-play delay only affects timeshift mode.

[grahamm]

Thanks for the help, I appreciate you taking the time for this. However now when I select encoder pass through and have the decoder set to nvidia, and go to live tv it go to a black screen and changes the channel on my stb but the video never comes up. the nvidia icon pops up but i cant click anything and the mouse over the gbpvr window shows an hour glass and nothing happens.

If I have the deinterlacing set to "none" then pause, the timeshift works and the nvidia decoder is used properly. also playing recordings works.

any idea as to why It hangs when I attempt to watch live tv with encoder pass through and nvidia video decoder? I will attach log

[sub]

Sorry, I dont know. I dont personally use this decoder, so I dont have much first hand experience with it.

[csy]

Very weird how it works on timeshift but not encoder-passthrough. I have found that the Purevideo decoder is very pickey with regard to what directshow filters it will connect to, and if it won't connect, then the PC hangs. In particular, I experience this with the Overlay renderer. I have no problems with PureVideo and VMR9 (with PureVideo set to "Prefer VMR9").

Make sure the PureVideo "Prefer xxxx" setting matches the renderer you have chosen in GBPVR.

Edit:
Perhaps your MPEG2 Demux filter is not the default Microsoft MPEG2 Demux and PureVideo is having trouble connecting to a 3rd party demux filter. Use GraphEdit to open lastgraph.grf in the GBPVR program directory to see if the gives any clues.

[pBS]

sounds like ffdshow is getting in the way again...try un-installing it...and if this was a clean rebuild,where'd the GPL decoder come from? it doesn't come with the 150...other apps will play havoc with the installed codecs so beware installing anything that works with dvd's or video...[GPL one comes with media-portal]
the config app will always show the overlay mode settings of Purevideo codec, so to set the vmr9/7 modes you just have to timeshift or play a recording..the icon will show up then...[it's always worked like this,i think because it's only using parts of purevideo in live mode]

the slowness really points to ffdshow tho...[i noticed from your log it's using the audio codec too,so is probably also adding post-processing after the purevideo decoders in background,why it's slow]
also those "extra" deinterlacing modes are only available in vmr modes..overlay best setting is 'both fields seperately'

[sub]

I agree that there is a good chance it is the ffdshow audio decoder causing the problem. It works fine for most users, but we see the occasional user with problems with this filter.